Tractor driven corn shocker



Sept. 28, 1943. c. WEAVER TRACTOR DRIVEN CORN SHOCKER 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 25, 1941 Sept. 28, 1943. c. WEAVER TRACT0R-IDRIVEN CORN SHOCKER 4 sheets-sheet 2 Sept. 28, 1943. c. WEAVER TRACTOR DRIVEN CORN SHOCKER Filed May 25, 1941 4 SheetSQSheet 3 'lill I! Il CALVINWEAVER,

i'zzl T1.

Sept. 28, 1943. c. WEAVER TRACTOR DRIVEN CORN SHOCKER Filed May 23, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 CALVIN WEAVER,

animaba Patented Sept. 28, Y194:3 y

.armenY o OFFICE N T TRACTOR DRIVEN CORN sHooKER E Calvin Weaver, Mechanicsburg, Ohio., `imprimaii May 2a, 1941, serial No.y 394,933 T rciaim. (omelia) l."

This invention'v relates" generally to agricuh' tural machinery and more speciiically to a trac-r tor drivenmechanism corn. T T T An object of the present 'inventionf'resides'in .the provision of a machine whichrmay beattached to a tractor and moved over the ground at a fairly rapid rate, the `machine having cutting, conveying and shock-forming means which are positively drive'nthrougha power transmism sion directly connected with lthelpower take-off for cutting and shocking of the tractor. i i

Another object of the invention 'rests in` providing the machine with'TaTjib and hoistV by means of which the shock can be raised; moved to one side of the machineT and placed upon the ground after being formed,` f

A further object resides in the provision -T of a corn shocker having a rotary tableand means for cutting and conveying `upstanding '.'corn stalks to the table, resilientmeans also being provided .to bunch the stalks about' theTcentral portion of the table and maintainTtheminulpright positions during the-bunchin'g or shockiorming operation. .i

A still further object is the provision' of means between the conveyingmeans and the rotary table for engaging 'and yieldably holding the out stalks until a suiiicientlylarge group has collected to prevent the stalks from` falling 'orbeing otherwise misaligned `during transfer :from the conveyor to the shock-forming tablel Another object rests in providing meansTfor guiding the stalks while upright, to the' central portion of the table, the means `being resilient whereby 'to accommodate a constantly growing shock, the guiding means being so mounted as to be capable of being released and moved out of the way when the shocksiare raised and swung to their positions of rest upon' the ground.

An object also resides injproviding `a vertical post member at theTcentral portion of the table, radiating arms being carried" by the-post :member for rotation in unison with the table toi-assist in moving the corn stalks and holdingwthe saine upright-the arms also assistinginlthe op# eration of raising the formed shock when it is to be transferred from the machine to the ground, the connection betweenfthe arms and the center post being such that the arms may move into parallel relation with the'pos't vto per# mit the shock to' be deposited on the` ground and the post and arms removed therefrom. I

Other objects and* advantages A` will be apparent from the following description and :the ac-A companyingfdrawingsin` which a corn shocker formed in accordance with the present invention has been disclosed in detail.`

In the drawings: Figjlis 'a`plan" view of a corn cutting and shocking machine formed in accordance with the present invention;

l Fig. 2 isasideelevational View of the mai chine shown in Fig. 1; f

3 isa vertical transverse sectional View taken through" the machine on the plane indicated by the line III.-`III of Fig.` 1; l

Fig. 4 isa detailvertical sectional view on the line IV-IV' of Fig', 3,l land taken through the connection between thecenter post of the `rotary table and the means for elevating the same;-` A i i Fig. 5 is asimilar view takenon the plane indicated by the line V-V of Fig. 4.;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View taken on the plane inditratedv bythe line VI`VI of Fig. 2, this figure showing the means for driving the stalkconveyor; y

Fig. "I is a detail sectional view taken on `the plane indicated by the line'A VII-VII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8` is a similar view taken on the plane inf' dicatedby'the line VIII-VDI of Fig. l, the view being limited to the showing of the means'for moving the cutter blade; y I

'Fig.` 9 is` a` plan view partly in horizontal section showing the means for moving the flexible guiding members out of contact with the formed shocks:

Fig. 10 is a detail vertical'sectional View taken on the plane indicated by the line X`X of Fig. 3; i Fig. 11 is `adetail horizontal sectional view takenon'the' plane indicated bythe line XI--XI 0f Fig. 10; i

Fig. `12 is a detail view, partly invertical section, disclosing the adjustablejournalsffor the ground-engaging wheels.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the 'numeral l designates the" tractor driven corn shocker in its entirety. This machine includes a frame 2 having a pair ofsections 3 and 4wl1ichare hinged as at 5 formovement about a horizontal axis.` The section 4 4'extends forwardly from the section 3: and is provided at its forward end with a plate 6 by means of which the frame is secured'to the rear end of a tractor in lorder that'when the' tractor moves in` a forward direction; rthe machine will be drawn after it. To provide for movement of the frame over the ground, the section 3 has a pair of ground of the guides by providing the lower or forward end of each of the shafts or cranks 8 with a worm 8c arranged to mesh with a worm gear 8d,y

the latter being fixed to a horizontally journaled shaft 8e. Also xed on the shaft Seis a pinion 8f, the teeth of which mesh with rack'teeth 8g provided on one side of the associate-d journal box 3a, The worm and worm gear mechanism serve to secure automatically the boxesa in their varius positions Vof vertical adjustment.

The frame section 3 is composed iof interconnected longitudinally and transversely extending structural steel bars, z f

'-To the rear portion of the frame section i3, there are secured a plurality of spaced brackets 9. The inner sides of the-b`racketshavesets Vof rollers lll journaled thereon, these rollers being spaced to receive the edge of aa'diskall ,which constitutes the rotaryy table of ythe.,machine. The bracketsialso supporta vertical Wall |12y at the edge of the `table. HThe underside of the disk I! has a ring gearl3 secured thereto, the teeth of this member 'meshing with the vteeth on a pinion M carriedby a stub shaft l5 journaled in bearings secured tothe Yframe section' 3. When the shaft l5 revolves, the teeth on the pinion 'lli engage the teeth on the'ring gear and cause the disk llfto revolve'. I l

Rotary motion vis imparted v-to thefshaft I5 throughv engagement of bevell gears I and 'Mia one of which is secured tothe-shaft I5 andthe other to a vshaft il forming a :part "of power transmission I8. This transmission is also carried by the frame 2' and; as illustrated inFig. 6.

includes a Worm lwheel I9 and clutch means 2!) for :connecting the worm wheel tothefshaft H. The worm wheel meshes with a :worml 2l carried at the rear end of a shaft 22 whichextendsflongitudinally with respect to the machine and is supported at its forward end'infbearingmeans 23 carried by the frame section 4. A plurality of shaft sections connect the shaft 22 withthe poWertake-off of a tractor, not shown.. The clutch 2li,V which 'may be of the coi'iventional .cone type, is controlled through the operation of 4a lever 2e pivotally supported :bythe frame section d. and connected with the clutch'through a rod 25. The lever 24 is held in its positions vof adjustment through the engagement 'of a plunger mcvably carried by the'lever `with recesses in a quadrant 2 5Ifcarried by theframe section 4, l

It willfbe seen that as the'shaft 22 is rotated,

the `worm and worm wheel will transmit -this to, these guides terminating' at "their inner ends adjacent to the central portion of the disk and serving to causel severed stalks delivered thereto to move toward the center of the table when the latter is rotated, f l

At one side of the frame 3, there is provided a bracket 21 formed for the movable support of a knife blade 28. This blade is connected by a rod 29 with an eccentric'iil secured for rotation with a short shaft 3l, the'latter being journaled on the frame as at 32. One end of the shaft 3| extends into a housing 33 through which the shaft Il projects. The inner en d of the shaft 3l has a bevel gear 34 fixed thereto, the teeth of the gear meshing with a similar gear carried by the shaft il'. When the latter shaft revolves, rotary movement will be imparted to the shaft 3| and the eccentric carried thereby which rotation will impart movement to the knife 28 through the rod 29. As the knife reciprocates, it moves between a pair of spaced guide members and a forwardly directed projection 36 onthe knife will sever corn stalks positioned between this member and the guides, the sides of the projection being sharpened to facilitate the movement thereof through the stalks.` After'thestalks havebeen severed, they are moved by means of conveyor mechanism, designated generally by the numeral 3l, from the knife to the rotary table where they will be bunched to produce a shock.

The conveyor mechanism is so formed as to maintain the stalks in an upright position during the transfer from the knife to the table. As illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 6, the conveying mechanism includes a plurality of inclined Vertically spaced sets of boards 38, the boards in each set being horizontally spaced. These boards carryfbearings for the rotatable reception of sprockets 39, the teeth of the sprockets receiving endless chains 4Q, certain links of which are provided with laterally extending fingers iii. The fingers on the chains project into the spaces between the boardsand yengage the stalks which are guided into the spaces by the beveled ends of guidingboards-M `supported above the boards 38 by strip-likebrackets 43, the lower ends cf the boards 42 being braced b-y `angle members 44 which extend forwardly from the frame section 3. v Movement is imparted to the chains through shaftsto which the sprockets 39 are secured, the lower ends of the shafts having beveled gears which `mesh 'with Ysimilar gears carried by the outerendof the shaft I'i. The gearing is so arranged that-the fingers which project from the chains into the spaces between the boardswill move toward the table and the stalks will be positively fed to the cutting knife and from this member to the rotary table. To prevent the stalks from Afalling over or being otherwise misaligned at vthe discharge end of the conveyor, oneof the boards 40 is provided witha resilient rod 4S so connected V-with the board as to project across `the space between the boards of the conveyor. #This rodserves to temporarily halt the stalks in their movement from the conveyor tothe table whereby the stalks will collect and be transferred 'as 'a group Vto the table.

To properly form the shock, the stalks must b-e moved toward and bunched around the central portion of the table. Tocause this movement of thestalks, thereis provided a plurality of vertically spaced resilient guides 4H. These guides are arranged in two sets, each set being carried 'by ka vertically extending post [i8 supported for rotation on the frame section 3. The guides Ally are coiled ,around the posts prior to being connected therewith to increase the resiliency of the guides and permit their movement or flexing away from the central portion of the" table when the shock increases in size during formation. The-guides are curved as indicated in Fig. 1 and the inner ends terminate adjacent to the central portion of the table when the guides are operatively positioned. l

To facilitate the movement of the stalks along the guides, the'table is provided atits center with an upwardly directed projection 49 having a polygonal cross-section. This projection receives the lower end "of a center post 50, the post having a socket for the reception of the projection 49. Ata point intermediateof its length,. the center post is provided with a collar from which a plurality of rollers 52 project in a horizontal direction. Above the collar, a. block 53 is journaled on thecenter post and this memberhas a plurality of vertical extending recesses formed in the sides for the reception of perforated ends of stalk moving arms 54. Pivots 55 extend through the perforations in the arms and adjustably secure the'4 arms to the block 53.

The under sides of the arms engage the rollers 52 and when one or more of the arms are elevatedto a horizontal position'and the block 53 rotated about the axis of the center post, a projection 56 on the upper side ofthe block 53 will be moved into 4registration with a recess formed in the under side of a collar 51v adjustably carried by the center post, the latter being square in horizontal cross-section so that rotary movement thereof will impart similar movement to the collar. `When the projection ispositioned in the recess, the block 53V willbe'restrain'ed against independent rotation `and the arms 54 will be held in horizontal positions. As the table revolves, the center post` will also revolve carrying with it the armsl 54 and when the outer ends bent away from the central portion of the' table and toward the discharge end of the conveyor, these guides serving to assist the movement of the stalks from the end of the conveyor to the center of the table and prevent the stalks from falling over when one or a small group of stalks is delivered to the table. After a suicient number of stalks have been cut and transferred to the table to form a shock of the desired size, the tractor is stopped and the clutch moved to a position to disengage the shaft I1 from the driving shaft.

This operation will arrest the movement of the conveyor and the rotation of the table. A rope may then be temporarily tied around the shock above the radiating arms 54 and the shock then raised from the table and moved to the ground. To perform this operation, the frame section .t at the right sidethereof is provided with a vertically extending column 58 which is mounted for rotation about its axis. The column is braced by bars 59 secured at their lower ends to the frame 3 and at their upper ends to a collar 6I! through which the column extends. The collar serves as a bearing for the upper end of the column. The latter member is provided above and below the collar with rollers 60a which engage the upper and lower `vertical shaft 18e.

- The column is maintained against rotation through the provision of a lever 6| pivotally connected as at 62 with the column adjacent to the lower portion, the lever normally being disposed in the forked end of a bracket 63 rising from the frame 3. The column `has a plurality of ears B4 secured to the upper portion, the ears being spaced to receive the lower end of a jibmember @5. `The jib extends upwardly and angularly with respect to the column and terminates at its upper end in a horizontal extension which projects over the central portion of thetable when the lever 5i is positioned in the bracket 83. The horizontal extension of the jib has a pair of pulleys 55 supported thereby, these members receiving a cable 55a which is secured at one end as atl to a tubular shield 58 carried by the upper end of the center post 50. The shield 6B receives the end of a transversely extending shaft 68a, the intermediate port-lon of which passing through registering openings provided ni the bifurcated opening of a head |585, the latter having a swiveled union 63e with the upper end of the post 5i). Within the bifurcated upper end of the head 6819, there is mounted a pulley 58d around which the intermediate portion of the cable 56a is trained. `The opposite end cf the cable is connected with a drum 69 carried by a shaftv 19 which is journaled in bearings supported by the bars 59.

Rotary movement is imparted to the drum by providing the shaft 11E; with a hand operated clutch 16a which Yserves to connect and disconnect thev shaft from another shaftsection 10b, one end of which extends into a housing me and is provided with a bevel gear which meshes with a bevel gear 16d carried by the upper end of a The lower end of this shaft also carriesa-bevel gear 1iif which meshes with a bevel gear 19g secured directly to the worm wheel i3. When the latter is rotated, the shafts 10e and 1Gb will also rotate and when the clutch 'ma is engaged, similar movement will be transmitted to the shaft 1G which will cause the drum 59 to rotate.

When the drum 69 is revolved, the cable will be woundthereon and, due to the decrease in effectivelength of the cable, the center post will be drawn upwardly toward the upper end of the jib. `Since the radiating arms 54 are positioned in the shock beneath the temporary tying rope, upward movement of the center post and the arms will impart similar movement to the shock. Prior to raising the shock, the guides 41 are disengaged therefrom by rotating the posts 48 about their longitudinal axes through the operation of a lever 1| connected with one of the posts. 'I'his post also has a short arm 12 connected therewith and a rod 'l3is pivotally connected at one end with the arm 12, the rod extending transversely of the machine and terminating adjacent to the lower portion of the other post 48. This post carries a pinion 14, the teeth of which mesh with a rack 15 secured to the end of the rod 13. A guide bar 16 maintains the rack in meshing engagement with the pinion and as the first post is revolved, the rod 13 and the rack and pinion will impart similar movement to the second post. This movement. of the posts serves to swing the iiexible guide bars 41 away from their positions over the table, thus releasing the shock.

After the shock has been elevated from the table, the jib is swung about the axis of the post 58 through the actuation of the lever 6|. This movement carries the shock `to one side `of the machine and when it is swungclear ofthe machine, rotation of the post 5B 'is discontinued. Tensionis applied to a vcable TI to exert upward movement on a yoke this member passing through a pivoted trigger 'lil carried by the hori- ,zontal portio-n of thegjib yWhen the trigger is actuated'and the yoke is raised, the collar 51 will be drawn upwardly to release the projection 55 on the block The weight of the radiating arms willcause the block 53- to rotate about the axis of the post 50 which movement will permit the arms 54 to drop to positions parallel with the post 50.

then be operated to lower the post 5B and the operator may guide the lower end to position the projection 49 in the socket at the lower end of the post. At this time, the lever 'H is moved to swing theguides t1 back toward the center portionof the table and when they have reached their normal position, a locking bar 8| will engage the down-turned end of the rod 'i3 to hold the posts t8 and the guides 41 in their normal positions. The apparatusis then in lposition to out more stalks and form a new shock.

To prevent the machine from tipping whenthe shock is swung to a position of discharge, the frame section 3 has a exible runner 82 secured thereto adjacent to the post 5S, This runner will engage the ground and oier resistance to tipping movement of the machine. Further resistance may also be provided by forming the wheels from cast metal or securing weight members thereto. In some instances, it may be necessary to adjust the frame 3 to raise or lower the forward ends lof the guide boards 42. VWhen this operation is required, the workman may grasp the outerend of the hand lever 83 and eX- ert upward or downward force thereto to move the frame sections about the pivot'. The forward end of thehandlever is rigidly secured to the frame section 4 and oneportion of the pivot means .5 passes through the lever. It will be seen that when movement is imparted to the lever, the framesection -3 will be rocked about the axis of the ground engaging wheels and this movement will be transferred by the frame 3 to the outer portion ofthe Yboardsd. The hand lever 83 is maintained in its positions of adjustment by the vengagement of a pin *8:2 carried thereby in notches formed in a quadrant 85. The pin 84 is released from the quadrant by moving a hand grip k86 toward'the lever, the former being connected with the'pin by a wire 81.

Accessvto the shock forming mechanism by the workman is .facilitated through the provision of an arcuate cat -walk 88 which extends around the rear side of the table and is secured to certain of the brackets 9.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a machine has been provided Vfor cutting and shocking .corn in a quick and easy manner. rl'he machine is directly attached to a tractor and may be rapidly operated due to the provision of the means for cutting, conveying and shocking the stalks. By providing the temporary stop 46, the machinemay be operated by avsingle workman. However, better results may be secured through the employment of two men.

What-is claimed is:

In a corn cutting and shocking machine, a Wheeled frame, stalk gathering and conveying means on said frame, means for cutting the stalks while the same are maintained in upright positions within said gathering and conveying means, a rotary shock-forming table carried by said framefor the reception of stalks discharged fromsaid gathering and conveying means, a pair of turntable standards carried by said frame at the opposite sides of said table, guiding springs supported by said standards and projecting over said table to direct the stalks from the gathering and conveying means toward the center of said table, andmeans for simultaneously turning said standards to move the guiding springs carried thereby to inactive positions beyond the connes of said table.

- CALVIN WEAVER. 

